SM
Real Sociedad vs. Real Madrid: 9 hrs 6 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
LL
Championship | Gameweek 44
Jul 16, 2020 at 5pm UK
Elland Road
B

Leeds
1 - 0
Barnsley

Sollbauer (28' og.)
Hernandez (90+2')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Sollbauer (90+4')

Marcelo Bielsa rejects PL talk despite moving to within one point of promotion

:Headline: Marcelo Bielsa rejects PL talk despite moving to within one point of promotion: ID:406822: from db_amp
A 1-0 victory over Barnsley left the leaders five points clear.

Marcelo Bielsa has targeted the Sky Bet Championship title after watching his side edge closer to automatic promotion with a nervy 1-0 win against Barnsley.

Barnsley defender Michael Sollbauer's own goal in the first half proved decisive, lifting Leeds five points clear of second-placed West Brom with two games left.

The gap to third-placed Brentford is six points and if they and West Brom both fail to win at the weekend, Leeds will go up as champions before their next match at Derby on Sunday.

When asked if promotion was the only objective or if he wanted to win the title, the Argentinian said smiling: "This question has only one answer."

Otherwise, Bielsa maintained his refusal to discuss the prospect of life in the Premier League.

"We are not yet promoted and until we can resolve this problem mathematically, we cannot talk about this," he said.

Leeds can count themselves lucky to take all three points after being pushed all the way by their local rivals.

The Reds had plenty of chances to cause a mighty upset. Jacob Brown and Mads Andersen went close to opening the scoring in the first half.

In the second period, Conor Chaplin and Callum Styles both fired shots narrowly wide, while Barnsley goalkeeper Jack Walton pulled off an excellent save to deny Patrick Bamford.

Bielsa said: "I want to recognise the work of our opponent today because they tried in every way possible and possibly deserved a different result.

"That is the comment I made (to Barnsley manager Gerhard Struber) at the end.

"It was a very tough match according to the mental balance. It was difficult for us to defend and attack."

Leeds winger Helder Costa was carried off the field on a stretcher and Bielsa confirmed he had sustained a rib injury.

Bielsa said he would not be watching either West Brom or Brentford's next matches.

"No, we always think that what we are able to get depends on us," he added.

Barnsley boss Struber said he was proud of his players' display, but that his side needed points and not performances in their bid for survival.

"Performance-wise it went very well, especially in the second half," said Struber, who replaced fellow German Daniel Stendel at Oakwell in November last year.

"But the killer thing is to score goals and that's the key issue at the moment.

"I'm very proud of my players for this performance, but in our situation we need to pick up points."

Struber insisted his players still had everything to play for and would fight to the end.

"It's a young group and many players will never give up," he added.

"We will keep going and in these last two games we still have a chance to stay in the league."

amp_article__406822 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-07-16 21:14:21:
html db last update - 2021-03-04 00:05:27 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Marcelo Bielsa

Click here for more stories about Leeds United

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leicester CityLeicester443041086394794
2Leeds UnitedLeeds44279880374390
3Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
4Southampton442591085612484
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4420121267442372
6Norwich CityNorwich442191477611672
7Hull City441912136556969
8Coventry CityCoventry4317121468551363
9Middlesbrough44189176460463
10Preston North EndPreston44189175661-563
11Cardiff CityCardiff44195205061-1162
12Bristol City441611175147459
13Sunderland44168205251156
14Swansea CitySwansea441511185762-556
15Watford441217155958153
16Millwall441411194355-1253
17Stoke CityStoke441311204460-1650
18Queens Park RangersQPR441311204157-1650
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn441310215874-1649
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth441212205869-1148
21Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds44138233968-2947
22Birmingham CityBirmingham441210224864-1646
23Huddersfield TownHuddersfield44917184774-2744
RRotherham UnitedRotherham44412283285-5324
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .